News

News Posted on May 23, 2013

Dean Johnson Co-authors Op-Ed on Immigrants and Jury Duty

Dean Kevin R. Johnson co-authored an op-ed with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Irvine School of Law supporting California Assembly Bill 1401, which would allow noncitizens who are legal permanent residents to serve on juries. The article was published in the Sacramento Bee on May 15.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that it is constitutional for the state to have noncitizens serve on juries," Johnson and Chemerinsky wrote. "It is highly desirable because expanding juror eligibility to lawful permanent residents would make juries look more like the communities for which they serve - and more legitimate to immigrant communities and more true to American democratic ideals."

Kevin R. Johnson is Dean and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicana/o studies at UC Davis School of Law. He is an internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights.